Boardwalk Romancing

[Time Turner]

Normally, Time Turner would have been rather excited about what was about to happen. He loved adventuring and he loved meeting new ponies, and the Hearts & Hooves Day event seemed the perfect combination of both. Yet, as he stood on the boardwalk and leaning over the railing to look at the beach, he felt a little sad about it. Last year’s event had been absolutely wonderful, and he had actually though that him and Applejack would have been together a little bit longer. Unfortunately, autumn and apple and cider season came, and he had gotten called away to help with some historical archiving up in the Crystal Empire. With being away as long they did, they had come to a mutual agreement that it would be okay if they found another pony.

In otherwords, he was bummed out because he still kind of wanted Applejack back. Unfortunately it seemed that wasn’t going to be the case. So, instead, he figured he’d try this event again in hopes of being able to move on. The caramel apple booth yelling loudly about apples at the moment was not exactly helping the mood.

Pulling out the card, he looked over the name again: Lotus Blossom. He recognized the name and could even put a face to it. She was the co-owner of the Ponyville spa with her sister, Aloe. From what few interactions he had with her she seemed nice enough, and she was really well groomed. That, however, was about the most he knew of her. So at least there was some air of mystery in who he was getting. As long as he tried to be fair and not make too many comparisons to Applejack, like how she usually always some kind of smidge of dirt on her somewhere, he would be fine.

For now, however, he decided to make his way a bit closer to the entrance to the boardwalk. Mostly to try and get away from the caramel apple salespony, but he also figured it’d be easier for Lotus to see him if he was already at the entrance area to meet her. Until then, he figured he’d fidget around with his tie a little bit to make sure it was in good shape.

[Deleted]

Lotus beamed as she trotted. At last, she thought, I've been waiting for this day for quite some time. Alright, maybe only a couple of weeks, but yeah, a long a time. Hearts and Hooves has always been one of her favorite celebrations, and she has been looking to participate in the yearly event for quite some time. Nothing like spending the day flirting with somepony! Almost everything seemed perfect. I love going to the beach, it is bright and sunny, and I had the opportunity to prepare myself along with sis, who is participating today too! I can't wait to talk about our dates tomorrow!

She was also satisfied to know the pony. Well, knowing him isn't really accurate. She knows his name, and she knows how he looks like. (Not because she likes eyeing stallions as she goes to the market square, not at all) Anyway, she knew that Time Turner was decent-looking from afar. He was not as muscular as she prefers stallions to be, but he was certainly taking care of himself. That, for her, was always a plus. Not that I dislike fat ponies! It's just... uhm... not the same? Massaging a fit, muscular stallion was always more enjoyable.

Lotus shook her head, not letting herself fall into daydreaming. Gotta stay focused, she admonished herself, I have my own date waiting for me. Her eyes shot a bit wider. ''Oh! Right! Waiting for me!,'' she exclaimed as she hurried her pace. She didn't want to be late; first impressions were always so important.

After a little while, she finally spotted the boardwalk's entrance. Then she saw him. Or rather she spotted his Mohawk first, and then the tie confirmed who he was. Lotus slowed down a bit, not wanting to sound winded and avoid at the same time to look desperate. As she got closer, she smiled at him. ''Hello Time Turner! I'm Lotus! Welcome to the Ponyv~'' Lotus winced as she shut herself up. Not again!!! So much for first impression, good job! She then smiled sheepishly at him and said: ''Eheh, force of habit, I guess. Sorry about that. It's... the phrase I usually use when greeting ponies at the Spa. I don't know how many times I use it in a month, but it has to be quite a lot, sooo~!'' She then straighten herself and tried to smile a bit more confidently, not wanting to let that little incident have too much of an impact on the date. ''Are you ready for our lovely little date?''

[Time Turner]

It wasn’t that long after he arrived that Lotus did, and apparently she was quite nervous about the date. Nervous enough, in fact, to start rambling off a greeting to the spa. He snickered just a little bit: it was pretty funny after all, but he stopped rather quickly and gave her a smile. It was a harmless mistake after all, and it probably helped break the tension a little bit.

”Yep, already took a look around to see what they got. Did you want to go to the beach first or play around on the boardwalk a little bit? From the looks of things they have a few shops and games up here.”

Either way would involve having to walk a bit, and from there the two could chat a little bit. From what he knew she was a good conversationalist, at least when she was dealing with spa patients. Here she seemed a bit more nervous, but that was okay. Play a few games or splash around in the water a bit and that would go away, hopefully. Heck, if they were lucky maybe there was a race or something they could do and….crap, there he went again thinking of AJ.

This was going to be fun, wasn’t it?

[Deleted]

Lotus almost sighed in relief when Time Turner didn't show any sign of confusion or exasperation at her little misstep. He was also polite enough not to rub it in her face. And he also did not laugh out loud; that would have been embarrassing as well. Not that I won't make any other mistakes like that today anyway, she thought, I shouldn't focus on that too much. Good thing he doesn't look as serious as he did a moment ago.... must have been the stress...?

''Yep, already took a look around to see what they got. Did you want to go to the beach first or play around on the boardwalk a little bit? From the looks of things they have a few shops and games up here.''

Lotus give him a small smile, her teasing spirit already surfacing. ''You already had enough time to see what we can do here?'' She giggled. ''So that means you were here for a little while. If I would have to guess, it is because you were so thrilled to see the name on your card that you made sure to scout ahead and make sure the date is going to be perfect. Oh, Mister Turner, you should not have had. What about surprises? What about the unexpected parts of blind dates?''

She then smiled at him and tilted her head. ''Sorry, I'm only kidding. Guess I was just a bit late and you didn't want to wait too long at the same spot. I would have done the same... And probably get myself distracted by something long enough so that I would have needed to go run back to the rendez-vous point.'' The last part wasn't entirely true; she would have looked around a little but always keep an eye on the meeting spot. Don't want him to feel guilty or anything, she told herself, best way to make sure of it is to laugh a bit at myself.

Lotus took a second to think about the possibilities he gave her. ''Hmm, well, maybe we could head for the beach since the sun is still high up. As it gets darker we could then go for the games and shop a little. Sounds good?'' She then blinked. ''Uhm... but then I forgot to brink a swimsuit... Eheh, maybe we can shop a little and then go for the beach?''

Of course, Lotus had not forgotten about bringing a swimsuit; she simply wanted a new one and wanted a stallion's point of view on the matter. But then if he starts asking me to try many, then I would know what type of stallion Time Turner is, Lotus thought, proud of her little scheme.

[Time Turner]

While her iteration of the spa greeting hadn’t thrown him off, her claim that he had rushed to scout the place in excitement to meet her did. Fortunately all that occurred was him blinking a little in confusion before she reassured him that she was only joking. To be honest, his idea of “look” around had been just glancing around and reading some signs as he meandered around a bit. Still, he smiled a little when she said she’d probably had gotten distracted if she had done such a thing as well.

He waited patiently as she mused a little on what to do. Honestly, the swimsuit thing surprised him a little bit. Sure, he was quite aware plenty of ponies wore them when they went swimming, but he honestly never saw the point. After all, ponies had coats and usually didn’t wear clothing most of the time anyway. Of course, this was coming from a guy wearing a tie right now so he didn’t have room to judge.

”Sounds like a plan to me,” he replied, taking a moment to look around a bit. He thought he had seen a shop that sold swimsuits somewhere nearby, and upon spotting it he pointed a hoof towards it. From the sort of rainbow-delic look of the place, however, he wasn’t sure if they would have stuff in Lotus’s style. Then again, at least in his experience, a lot of beach stores liked that sort of rainbow-hippie-beach bum look so maybe it was just an aesthetic thing?

”I think that store over there was selling some, but we can walk a bit and see what else is around if you’d like.”

[Deleted]

Lotus was glad that Time Turner had agreed to shop for swimsuits, but was a bit curious as to why he offered to visit other shops first. Perhaps he is not even interested in mares wearing swimsuits? Perhaps he doesn't like swimsuits at all? Or.. maybe he doesn't think I have a physique that would work well with one!? Lotus began worrying about her appearance, but quickly told herself that there is a possibility that Time Turner only wanted to be a gentlecolt and not appear too thrilled about the idea. She could work with that. She hoped it was so.

''Well, we could check around and see if there's anything interesting. But then I think it would be best if we waited after. Unless you do not mind burying anything we'd buy in the sand to make sure they do not get stolen!'' Lotus smiled, indicating it was a joke. ''I'm sure nopony would ever steal anything; I'm not against looking around first. With the time I spent preparing myself I can wait a little before getting close to the water!''

Lotus went next to him, a bit closer than how far two friends would be next to each other, but not as close as to appear too intimate. ''Ready when you are, Mister Turner! Maybe we could start at getting a little something to drink? I... kind of trotted a bit coming here and... you know, I'm a bit thirsty. Oh! And I like your mane. It gives you an adventurous style. Suits you well.''

[Time Turner]

Time Turner cocked his head a little in confusion as Lotus went on about other plans. Apparently he had misspoken or something about what he had meant. Still, at least he saw that she could have a sense of humor; that was always a good thing. And he was also quite fine with looking around a bit more as well. His first survey had been rather quick and sloppy, so taking a moment to walk around a bit would be good. Plus, to be honest, he wasn’t actually sure how nice the water would be at this time of year so putting it off a little wasn’t a bad idea in his book.

Since correcting the misunderstanding accomplished nothing and only worked to embarrass one party or the other, he let it slide. He was also comfortable with her scooting closer to her: it was an expected part of a date to at least be somewhat intimate. Besides, he had crashed straight into AJ from behind. Pretty hard to feel uncomfortable about being close to a mare after that kind of situation.

”Please, you can just call me Turner if you want. Or Timey if you want to try a nickname,” he replied,”And thank you, although admittedly it can be a bit hard to manage it sometimes…” he replied, tugging at it and getting his hoof caught just a little bit to demonstrate the point. His hairstyle was more of an accident than intentional and was more representative of his not paying too much attention to his mane in the morning than anything else.

”I’m sure, however, a pony with such a lovely mane as yourself would have some advice on that,” he replied, making sure to match her compliment with his own as they started towards one of the little food shacks to get a drink.

[Deleted]

Lotus smiled at him, glad that he would offer her the nickname this easily. Most of the time, she had to invent one on the spot, and then she would usually have a good laugh at seeing the pony's reaction. But since he already had one, it told her that this stallion wasn't too worried about his pride. She could also guess that he was probably not a stallion that serious. Lotus was glad of that, she loved ponies that weren't afraid of laughing at themselves. She knew she would have to wait and see in order to determine if her date was a fun stallion, but so far he seemed a bit promising.

''Aw, thank you for the compliment, Timey. Of course I would have some advice for you! Many times it's only a matter of finding the right shampoo and the right type of mane gel that is best for you. If you ever come to the spa I would be more than happy to show you a trick or two to better take care of your mane and will recommend you some products.''

Lotus was happy to have shamelessly promoted her spa, and at the same time to have given herself some more time to think about the products themselves. She only rarely had to work with Mohawks and was a bit worried about wrongly recommending a product to her date. After all, there was a possibility that she might get to see him again; 'ruining' his mane would in the end not only penalize him, but herself as well.

As they neared the food shack, Lotus looked at the list of different drinks. As she did, an idea struck her. ''Alright, Timey. Let's have a little game. We both choose something to drink, and the other has to guess what they are going to take. If we do not get it after three tries, the other has to buy the drink. Are you up for it? Oh! And we can only take simple flavors of juices; alcohol drinks and cocktails are off-limits.''

Most probably they would end up paying the other's drink, but that suited her. Alright, she thought, it is a bit childish but then he could be a competitive stallion: he might enjoy little games.... Or maybe he likes alcohol a bit too much, so if he flinches or something that can be a hint. Whatever happens, it will tell me a bit more about him, and I am still going to get my Pineaple Juice no matter what happens. Perfect plan!

[Time Turner]

”So then, I take it the second date will be shampooing my mane then?” he said, giving a little bit of a laugh.

He wasn’t one hundred percent sure yet on whether to go on a second date. Lotus was nice, but didn’t feel like he had sparked with her as well as he did with Applejack. Still, it was going along pleasant enough he couldn’t think of a reason to reject a second date. After all, different ponies, different amounts of time might be needed to get a sense for them. At the very least, going to a spa did not seem to be a bad decision to make. As long as they got along for the rest of the day of course.

Approaching the shack, Lotus threw out a suggestion for a little game of “Guess the drink choice”. It could be fun, and maybe he’d get to see a little of what she thought of him. Not that he thought drink choice was a particularly strong sign of any kind of personality, but if they had to explain reasoning behind the guesses later it could be interesting.

”Alright then, sounds fun enough. Now let’s see, what seems to be the best drink to go with you…”

As he thought, he looked at the list of drinks and spotted “durian” on the list. Grabbing that for his own choice, having once sampled the fruit on one of his vacations to the more tropical parts of Equestria, he continued thinking. Unfortunately, for his first guess he got a bit fixated on her hair color, and the pink was making him think strawberry. And, well, might as well go for the gut reaction right?

”I think maybe you’ll go for the strawberry drink then?”

[Deleted]

''So then, I take it the second date will be shampooing my mane then?''

Lotus returned the laugh. She was glad her date was already considering a second date. That must mean that I must be doing a good job so far,Lotus thought, otherwise he would not have suggested it this soon. Maybe it's only because he finds me pretty? We didn't have the time to talk that much yet... Seems a bit premature, but I'm really glad that he wants to! ''Yes! Well, the shampoo is usually only one part of a spa visit~ Are you sure you're not thinking about the massage table right now?'' She smiled at him mischievously.

Glad to know that he agreed to participate in the little, Lotus once again looked at the different drinks offered. Other than referring to his coat color, she didn't have much to base her guess on. It would have probably been better if I had decided until later for this... noted.

”I think maybe you’ll go for the strawberry drink then?”

Lotus was pleasantly surprised by the guess. Strawberry drinks were among her favorites. It also told her that he considered her to be sweet... to some extent. It made sense, right?

''Strawberry? Wow, that would have been my second pick. I really like strawberry-flavored food and drinks... So I think you can already guess that I am a fan of sweets. A good thing I can manage to go to stay away from Sugarcube Corner or Miss Bon Bon's candies for a long time otherwise I would probably have a problem with my weight... or get diabetes.''

Lotus then smiled at him. ''Alright, I may not be that much of a fan, but you get the idea. Most of the time if something is sweet, I am probably going to like it. I would have gone for pineapple juice; the beach reminds me of a tropical setting, so I guess it got me wanting one. Alright, for you~ I believe you're going to pick grape juice. I mean, you look like somepony who would enjoy wine, so it made me think of that.''
She giggled. ''I know it sounds odd, but your name reminds me of a pendulum clock, and we often see them in living rooms, and I picture you on a couch, a clock in the background with a glass of wine in your hoof. Just an impression.''

I hope that he didn't find it odd, Lotus thought.

[Time Turner]

Ah, well, it seems that his guess was rather close, having been her second choice. And he learned that she was a big fan of sweets, although he personally always thought strawberries rather tart. Still, he knew what to try and sneak to her should they have a second date. Admittedly he hadn’t thought of pineapple juice, but her reasoning made some sense. It did cut the game rather short, however.

”You know, I’m pretty sure I was supposed to have three tries to guess. Couldn’t resist the pineapple juice for much longer could you?” he said, laughing just a little bit as she moved onto her guess for him.

He did enjoy that she had a rather sophisticated idea of him. In reality, he wasn’t much of a drinker, and when he did he liked a good cider over wine. And that was before he briefly dated Applejack! All in all, despite his name and choice of tie, he was rarely ever as sophisticated as ponies sometimes thought he was. So, he had to shake his head at Lotus’s guess.

”I appreciate the thought, but honestly I don’t think I could ever appear that sophisticated,” he said, keeping mostly to a smile this time around,”Although a good glass of grape juice goes nice with a peanut butter sandwich…”

He waited a second for that sink in before talking more.

”So then, did you have a second guess, or should I ruin the surprise?”

[Deleted]

Lotus blinked as Time Turner reminded her that he was supposed to have had three tries. She had made the rules, and almost immediately after she had forgotten all about them. Right now she didn't feel like the brightest of light bulbs. Looking at the floor in shame, she said sheepishly: ''Well... I mean you're right, I guess I really wanted that pineapple juice... but... Yeah... I guess the game a bit silly to begin with, it's not a big deal.''

She smiled, glad about the peanut butter sandwich comment; that told him that Timey here was honest about himself. A pony that would have been too proud would have not said such a thing.

''Hmm, I guess I could try again even though I was a bit unfair by telling you right away. I'm sure you will not hate me for that, right? Let's see~ Hmm. I'd guess banana juice. No particular reason this time other than yellow complements brown. So a glass of banana juice would look great in your hoof.'' She smiled, glad of her unusual, pathetic reason.

[Time Turner]

It seems it would have been better to not have said anything for it seemed that he had indeed embarrassed her a little by pointing out the mistake. Still, she recovered pretty quickly from the sound of it, so he would just need to be a little more careful. At least she enjoyed the comment about the peanut butter sandwich.

”Huh, I didn’t even know they made juices out of banana...” he said, blinking a little bit in surprise before checking the board to see that they did, in fact, have that.

”Well, look at that…well, I’m going to count you as winning cause I think I’m gonna try that instead of my original choice of durian fruit.”

It wasn’t that much longer before they reached the front of the line to place their orders. Not really thinking about it he had already paid for the drinks. Well, the agreement had been the loser would pay for the drinks, and he had sort of been the loser despite the little hiccup in the rules. Oh well, he didn’t mind that much: he probably would have paid for it even if he had won anyway.

”So then, shall we go check out that swimsuit shop before heading down to the beach?” he said as he got the got the container for the fruit drinks, carefully placing it to it was snuggly balanced on his back.

[Deleted]

Lotus did not feel really thrilled to have 'won' since it was pretty obvious to her that Time Turner had only changed his choice to make her feel better because of the series of mistakes she had made. Still, she was glad that he was considerate enough to do something about it; many stallions would have not thought about that, yet he did! Another point for him.

''I know its not the most common juice, but it usually taste pretty good. If it doesn't taste like banana then I really can't think of what they actually put in there~.''

She had already taken her purse out of her saddlebag when she say him hoof over the bits to pay for their drinks. She hesitated between telling him that she would pay for hers, and letting him be a gentlecolt. Oh well, she thought, if he insists~ I'm not gonna turn down a free drink! Mental note to buy him something in return by the end of the day.

She nodded at his suggestion. ''Sure! But then just give me a second and don't move, will you?'' She said with a small grin. She then skirted him, stood next to his side, and leaned in to take a sip from her drink on his back. It wasn't the most comfortable way to drink, but then it was more enjoyable than the usual way. With the straw at her lips, him moving would probably mean that the container will slip and fall. After a few little sips, she backed and smiled. ''Delicious! It definitely reminds me of tropical weather. .... Not that I have ever went to a tropical resort, but you know what I mean. Anyways, let's go!''

Lotus almost sprang to a lively walk, but quickly remembered that it was probably not a good idea with Timey having to carry the drinks on his back. The least she could do was to slow down for him. She calmed herself a little and started to walk beside him, using the opportunity to have a better look around. ''It would be great to come back here during Summer; there would be a lot more ponies, and the ambiance is going to be even better. Still, I like this place so far.''

She then spotted a swimsuit shop not too far from them, and made her way there. Hm, looks like we're not going to be the only ones browsing, she thought, having spotted two cute Earth Pony mares already browsing. Lotus smiled a little, both at the sight and because she wonders they will distract her date's eyes away from her, and for how long. ''You tell me if you see something that you think will look great on me, alright? Nothing green!''

[Time Turner]

”Actually, if my memory serves, the flavor you tend to get in a lot of banana flavored stuff is actually based on an old species of banana that went extinct after some particularly devastating funguses and stuff wiped it out. That’s why it usually tastes a little different from actual bananas,” Time Turner responded, just putting out a little trivia as they waited for and paid for the drinks.

Fortunately when he sipped the drink it was indeed real banana juice made with fresh bananas. He smiled happily before placing it back in the container. Lotus leaning up on him in order to get her drink made him wobble just a little bit, but he stood his ground well enough. It was moments like this he did sort of wish to be a unicorn, or at least a pegasus so he could fly and drink at the same time. At least Lotus was being polite and, after a few springy steps, staying in line with him.

Not that he wouldn’t have minded too much being from behind and….huh, didn’t he have the same thoughts about Applejack? The thought made him blush just a little bit, having just discovered this new part of himself. Although there were some rather big differences, particularly with the tail styles. Applejack had her’s tied up in a ponytail, but the slight stray hairs gave it that sort of rustic, hay-bale sort of look. Like everything else on her, however, Lotus’s tail was very sleek and shined: probably only Rarity’s tail was better groomed. Despite their differences, however, Time Turner found he was enjoying Lotus’s company just as much as Applejack’s. Probably less chance of smashing into her though.

”Hmm, the beach is indeed more of a summer thing, but it’d also probably be a lot more crowded. It’s nice to be able to just walk without worrying about crowds and stuff. Less worrying about bumping into other ponies and more focusing on the pony you’re with,” he said, giving her a playful smile as they approached the shop.

He was a little surprised that Lotus was granting him permission to look for a swimsuit for her. Considering the only clothing he ever regularly wore was a tie, well, he wasn’t sure if he was the best choice for this sort of thing. Still, he would at least give it a shot, though he had a feeling he should tread carefully. This seemed to him a bit of a test, so at the very least he’d need to make sure to keep in mind the no green thing.

”Alright then, I’ll see what I can find. Is there anything else I should keep in mind though?” he said, hoping to get a little more information on her tastes.